City of Florence
Environmental Management Advisory Committee
June 21, 2012 ~ Regular Session 2:00 pm
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The proceedings of the City of Florence Environmental Management Advisory Committee were recorded on tape and on file at Florence City Hall.
1. Call to Order and Approval of the Agenda-2.00
Chairperson Robert Forsythe called the meeting of the Environmental Management Advisory Committee (EMAC) to order at 2:00 pm. Along with Chairperson Forsythe others present: Vice Chairperson (VP) Bonnie MacDuffee, Committee Members (CM): Robin Sullivan, Sharon McLeod and Sandra Davidson. Also present Community Development Director (CDD) Sandra Belson, County Transfer and Recycling, (CTR) Dan Webb and Pete Smart, Central Coast Disposal (CCD) David Twombly, and minute recorder Barbara Miller.
The agenda was approved as presented.
2. Approval of Minutes – April 19, 2012
VP MacDuffee moved to approve the minutes of April 19, 2012; second by CM McLeod; by voice all ayes, motion carried unanimously.
3. Public Comments
This is an opportunity for members of the audience to bring to the EMAC’s, any items NOT otherwise listed on the Agenda. Comments will be limited to with a maximum time of 10 minutes for all.
There were no public comments.
4. Green Fair Debrief
The Green Fair was discussed and it was the consensus that it went very well; there was a steady flow of people and it appeared to be better attended than last year. There was a great deal of interest in EMAC’s table, including the kid’s information and the teacher’s packets.
· Handed out small lights advertising the Rhody Express and had a good number of people stop by due to the lights.
· CM Davidson’s display was great and generated a lot of interest.
· Information about the Greener Florence Award and displays from this year’s winners (Florentine and Morgan’s Country Kitchen) caught the attention of business owners.
· VP MacDuffee took names and phone numbers of business owners to contact next year who showed interest in the Award.
5. Household Hazardous Waste Debrief
CTR Webb said the HHW event was very well attended and referred to an email from the county with the waste collected summary which included a listing of where the participants had heard about the event. The county very pleased with the attendance at the event and has scheduled another one for October 19-20. CM Davidson said there was a steady stream of cars; someone was there almost all the time and the customer count was 281.
Siuslaw Estuary Partnership
CDD Belson said related to the event, the Siuslaw Estuary Partnership is considering creating an aquifer protection plan. The city has a Drinking Water Protection Plan, but wasn’t done much with it, so they are going to update it and broaden it to the whole aquifer. What has been identified as being a potential hazard to the ground water is hazardous waste, especially when it is improperly disposed of. It was discussed about the community only having an opportunity to dispose of the hazardous waste once and sometimes twice a year makes it even more of a problem as people need to store the material.
One of the potential management plans is to try to get Lane County to have more frequent events or have some way to store the waste in Florence so citizens could dispose of it when they are done with it rather than to try to keep it in their garage or in their businesses until the event was held.
CTR Webb said the key is getting the word out to the community because if they know when the event is going to occur and as long as we get the participation the county will continue to hold it twice a year.
CDD Twombly said the city is actually paying to support that event so the city should be treated the same as the city of Eugene where citizens can dispose of their hazardous waste four days a week. He thought there was some political pressure that could be put on the county; if the city was going to continue participate; we could request a storage facility even if it was only open one day a week.
The committee discussed citizens being concerned about the old gasoline and how to dispose of it.
CDD Belson said there are other management strategies if they make it into the plan, she suggested that the EMAC committee could help take on some of the education or outreach of some of those activities; a good linkage between what the committee is already doing and extending that out a little bit further.
When asked about business participation in the event it was noted that they could participate by appointment only. Lane County tracks the events and the committee could get a history of which months were better attended and it was decided it would be helpful to post the history of the events.
6. Lane County’s Trash Buster Award
VP MacDuffee said there were people who asked about Lane County’s award and she gave them applications which could be downloaded off of the county’s website.
The award is county wide:
· It has different categories for recognition.
· The deadline for submitting applications is July 1st.
· Suggested submitting the city’s winners directly to the county next year.
7. Opportunity to Recycle for 3rd Quarter
· Black and White Event
· Black part of the event is taking tires and the white part is taking old appliances including water heaters refrigerators, stoves and even microwaves.
VP MacDuffee said she had not done anything with the black and white event and asked if the committee was still interested in holding one and if so, they would need to find a location and permission from the property owner.
The committee discussed where they could hold the event:
· Rite Aid did not respond when they were contacted last year.
· The high school parking was used in the past and they might be able to do it there before school started.
· Old Dunham parking lot which is located on Hwy 101
· Empty lot behind Les Schwab
What had been taken in the past?
· CTR took metal from the drop box
· CCD took tires to the transfer station last time, and Paul Potter also takes tires
· Appliances, water heaters and microwaves
· Only 8 tires per participant
· Will not take propane
Tsunami Debris - SOLV
CCD Twombly said with all the tsunami debris coming; the park divisions is working with SOLV and the committee members stated their concern about taking tsunami debris and decided not to take that type of debris during the event. All the state parks that are associated with SOLV are getting drop boxes in secure locations and will give participants SOLV bags which will be taken for free at the state parks. The committee discussed contacting SOLV to get bags to hand out at the event for those interested.
Date of the Event
August 18th from 9-1 at a location to be determined; either the Old Dunham lot or the school parking lot.
Advertising
Once the location was pinned down then they could do advertising:
· The city could make copies;
· Put information on the city’s website;
· Send out PSA’s provided by the committee
· Article in the city’s newsletter.
· Notices in the gated communities.
CCD Take Tires to County
CCD Twombly said he would prefer to take the tires to the county if they would take them for the amount of the $1,500 grant.
Assisting with Event
CTR Webb and CCD Twombly said they would be there as did the rest of the EMAC committee.
Event License
CDD Belson said she would get the application for the event license that informs all the department heads know what is going on.
Information to the Haulers
VP MacDuffee said she would get information to the haulers as soon as she had a definite place for the event. It was decided if they did not have the information by July 20th, they would do the event next year.
Educational Materials for Homeowners Associations Newsletters
CM Davidson said she had gotten the contact information for Coast Village and said that anything that goes to them goes to a communication committee. CCD Twombly said Coast Village does a great job of recycling; 9 yards a week and it was done right. It was noted that Florentine and Greentrees had also been given educational information.
Meeting Educational Goals for this Quarter
CDD Belson said this came out of the last meeting in trying to do more education in this quarter, but if they do the Black and White event then it would be sufficient to meet the requirement.
VP MacDuffee said educational materials were posted in Florentine’s clubhouse. CM McLeod said in the Register Guard there was an article on sustainable gardening and a section on what one could and she suggested that taking the article and editing it so it could be passed on would be another way to get more educational materials to the public. It could be printed out and given to each of the Homeowner’s Associations. She offered to take the article, edit it and then email the final copy to the committee members.
CTR Webb said last year they went door to door to every household in Florentine and gave them information on composting.
It was discussed that the haulers put ads in the paper and CTR have radio spots that are focused primarily on recycling and CTR Webb would ask the radio station for a hard copy of the script so they would have it for their files for educational materials.
8. Support of Siuslaw News’ Recycling Microsite & Insert?
CDD Belson said this was related to the email sent to the committee and she thought Jenna from the Siuslaw News was going to be able to attend the meeting but had a conflict at the last minute. CDD Belson said she was not able to follow up with Jenna in terms of the Microsite idea; she thought it was part of the Siuslaw News website where they are trying to get revenue as well as provide services. She thought if they were providing a Recycle Florence Guide that it would available to distribute and the committee could get extra copies and hand them out to the gated communities.
EMAC Budget
When asked if the city could assist the News with part of the EMAC budget; CDD Belson said she thought it could be possible. CM McLeod said she would like to see a draft of what was being proposed before giving them any money. It was decided to hold this item over to August and have Jenna come to that meeting and CDD Belson would ask her to email an example to the committee when it was available.
It was discussed about using EMAC’s website and CDD Belson suggested putting a link to the Siuslaw News website on EMAC’s website.
9. Review Rate Structure for 4 cubic yard commercial containers
CTR Webb said his initial concern was the 4 yard for commercial containers as there is a difference of $98.92 from where it should be, but since there was a rate review next year and it was late in the game he thought it was a non-issue at this time.
10. RARE Participant (Resource Assistance for Rural Environment)
CDD Belson reported that the city had been qualified to be a host community. The program was through the University of Oregon and the participants would be placed in the community for approximately 10 months. The students would identify the community that they wanted and the community would also identify the students they would like to host – then they match the students with the community. There is an interview process and it might be a video conferencing to reduce the amount of money paid for travel. She hoped by the August meeting they would know who would be coming to the city in September. The city pays $19,000 and stated that there was money in the Community Development Department’s budget for the RARE Student.
CDD Belson said that Wendy Farley-Campbell started with the city in this program along with other participants. She said she had set up the work program for the RARE student so that 40% of their time would be working with EMAC; supporting the committee’s efforts to make progress on their goals. She said that Chris Bell who did the rate study this year, would be doing the rate review next year.
11. Committee & Staff Discussion/Report Items
* City Hall Kiosk – Update from Sandy Davidson
CDD Belson informed CM Davidson that there were two recycling boxes that came in for cell phones and batteries. The committee discussed how good the Kiosk looked and how with all that CM Davidson had done it has really stands out to the citizens when they come in to city hall.
* Website
CDD Belson asked if there was a committee working on the website and she was told no, not at this time. Chairman Forsythe and his wife were going to work on the site, but they had both taken on a job; but he would talk to his wife as she would be available later that month. The committee discussed the possibility that the RARE student could work on the site. CDD Belson said the new city website is easier to make changes to. Minute Recorder Miller offered to volunteer to help with the website until a RARE student could take over the project.
12. Other
MacDuffee said she had a nice email from Wendy; she was home and then would head to her next destination. The committee would be informed of her email that would work overseas.
Adjourn
CM McLeod, moved to adjourn the meeting at 3:00 pm; second by CM Davidson, by voice all ayes, motion carried unanimously.
Meeting Dates
Thursday, August, 16th
APPROVED BY THE EMAC ON THE ______DAY OF ______, 2012.
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Chairperson, Robert Forsythe Date
ATTEST:
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CDD Sandra Belson Date
Environmental Management Advisory Committee – June 21, 2012 1 of 6